martes, 23 de febrero de 2010

Shockheaded

Noble (Jason Mauer) is a private investigator that is hired by a weirdo-looking pale man to look for a particular girl who has been appearing in weird, secret signal pornographic videos that have been appearing on secret signals across television. As Noble investigates, he gets himself involved with a weird pornographic company, sex clubs, and slowly becomes obsessed with the girl in the video (played by the beautiful and talented Debbie Rochon). Soon, he will know the secret that plagues the video, and his nightmares, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.This movie was written and directed by Eric Thornett, one of the most interesting filmmakers in the indie horror scene right now, and this is probably his most interesting film. It’s a part of the ‘snuff’ subgenre of cinema, a kind of horror movie that was first begun by Peeping Tom in 1960 by Michael Powell. The script is clever and has a lot of surreal mystery. You really never know what the hell is going on for a lot of the film, almost like you have walked into a different world. It’s obvious that Thornett is a big fan of Cronenberg, as the plot has elements of Videodrome (the secret snuff channel), and David Lynch as well, particularly lost Highway, like the creepy pale guy and the white-masked slasher looking dude. Hey I don’t blame him, these are the best films by both directors and it’s great to see the influence. The movie also plays a little like Angel Heart, particularly with the way the main actor behaves. Sadly this movie isn’t without it’s flaws. With it’s creepy, film noir vibe also comes a very slow pace, and this wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that the film needs some serious editing, especially after the reveal of the ‘snuff’ angle. After that particular revelation, you just don’t care about anything that happens next. Nothing has the impact, nor the strength. The acting isn’t very good either, although in her defense, Debbie Rochon delivers as usual, proving once again that she’s the best actress in indie horror today. I would love to work with her someday. So in conclusion, this is a pretty damn good film, especially considering it’s budgets. It proudly wears it’s influences on it’s sleeve, and has the potential to be creepy. I look forward to see more of Thornett’s work in the future